Maryland’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium expired Sunday without an extension of the state of emergency by Gov. Larry Hogan, despite a letter Friday  from House Speaker Adrienne Jones and her top lieutenants urging Hogan to extend it. 

“This is a preventable public health crisis,” WMAR quotes Public Justice Center attorney Matt Hill, who said up to 4,500 Maryland families were at risk of eviction without Hogan’s extension. Support your neighbors in trouble and let your local officials know how you feel about Hogan’s do-nothing pandemic response. 

Stop evictions? Extend the emergency, Gov. Hogan.  -- PM Weekly Memo for Monday, August 16, 2021

• Call Gov. Hogan (410 974-3901) - tell him to extend the emergency, halting evictions, AND restore unemployment insurance benefits without work search requirements. Two things at once. Can he do it?
  

Statewide Updates:

The New Era Project

Join us TODAY from 6-8pm at Not Just Crab in Randallstown to learn more about the New Era Project and meet other progressives in Baltimore County! RSVP here.

Calling All Phonebankers! 

Housing instability is on a rise in Maryland and we need your help to educate our community about our options for rental assistance. Join us on Monday, August 23th at 6:00PM to make calls to folks in Calvert and Carroll County! CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

(This event has been moved from its previous time: Thursday, August 19th.) 

Healthcare Justice Campaign 

Medicare Expansion:

We have an opportunity to win a  game-changing expansion of Medicare. Some of the Senate’s progressive champions are using the federal Budget Reconciliation process, unfolding now, to include provisions to add dental, hearing, and vision care;  to lower the eligibility age and out-of-pocket costs; and to give Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices.  Here are two critical things that supporters can do right now:

--Sign the petition here

--Join the People’s Action national phone bank tomorrow evening, August 17, from 6:30-9 p.m

Progressive Maryland is hosting the phone bank and would appreciate having fellow Marylanders in the house! 

We’ll do training, provide tech support and build community. Thanks to everyone who has taken action so far! Winning will dramatically improve the lives of millions of people and bring us closer to a Medicare For All system. For more information, contact Malcolm at [email protected].

Fighting COVID-19:

Given the steep  rise in cases and hospitalizations in Maryland in recent weeks, we urge Marylanders to call on Governor Hogan to renew the Catastrophic Public Health Emergency which he let expire on August 15. Renewing the State of Emergency will help stop evictions, keep protections in place for essential workers, and keep in place the tools and resources that local officials have been using throughout the pandemic to meet the needs of our community. Now is not the time to pull back and limit the state’s response to COVID, especially as we prepare for the return of students, faculty and staff  to schools and campuses.  

At this time there’s an urgent need to focus at every level on vaccine outreach and education, and a commitment from wealthy countries to free the vaccine in order to distribute the billions of shots that the world needs. Please speak up, mask up, get vaccinated and urge others to do the same. Help stop the spread.  

Local Chapter Updates:

Anne Arundel County

Fair Elections Taskforce

Join us Tomorrow, August 17th at 6:30pm for the next Fair Elections Taskforce Meeting by registering here.

Check out this interview with Progressive Maryland’s Executive Director, Larry Stafford, Jr., in the Anne Arundel County

NAACP’s summer newsletter:

Progressive Baltimore County -- Contact Zach for updates and how to get involved. 

Progressive Harford County

Pick a date for Progressive Harford County's research committee meeting. The research committee investigates voting records, public statements and donations of elected officials representing Harford County. The committee also researches legislation affecting Harford at the local and state level. The purpose of this meeting is to determine priority topics and a plan for action.  Complete this form to indicate whether you want the research committee to meet by Zoom on Tuesday, August 24 at 6 p.m. or Wednesday August 25 at 6 p.m. The deadline for responses is Sunday, August 22. 

Thank you to everyone who  attended the New Era Project event last week. We had a great discussion about supporting progressive candidates across the ballot and the need  to create a progressive Democratic infrastructure in Harford County.

We also want to thank everyone who took time to vote on the logo for Progressive Harford County! Stay tuned for the launch of the  chapter's website and social media accounts with our new logo.  

Our friends with the NAACP Youth & College Division invite you to their upcoming virtual event this Thursday, August 19 at 7 p.m. The police accountability information session will help the public learn accountability on incidents of police brutality through reporting incidents, filing complaints and contacting their representatives.

Progressive Montgomery

Want to get involved with our local economic, health and environmental justice campaigns? 

Please contact Josh this week!

State and National News:  

Economic Justice For Marylanders -- 

Even though two tranches of federal money ($401 million and $352 million) were sent to Maryland for renter relief, the money is getting through the state bureaucracy very, very slowly. Rep. Steny Hoyer last week said “I urge Governor Hogan to extend the moratorium on evictions until Marylanders can get relief from the assistance that Congress has provided.“ 

At the county level, find help for threatened eviction at the info links here: Anne Arundel County: Housing assistance info here. Eviction help, click here. Calvert County: For general information on housing assistance and to apply for rental assistance click here. Charles County: For general information on housing assistance and to apply for rental assistance, click here. Prince George’s County: Housing assistance info here. To apply for rental assistance, click here. St. Mary’s County: For general information on housing, click here.  To apply for rental assistance, click here.

Get more information here about Maryland’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program  

Checks for the Child Tax Credit are still arriving in bank accounts of those households that have filed tax returns -- but up to ten percent of eligible households won’t get it routinely because they don’t file/don’t have to file. So they may not know about this important form of support.  Get the word out! Use this Non-filer Sign-up Tool Help Guide (PDF - English and Spanish). This guide tells people what to gather ahead of time and walks people step-by-step through filling out the Tool.

Events from Our Allies:

Monday, August 16 | 7pm Reel and Meal will feature A Thousand Cuts, a feature-length documentary distributed through PBS Frontline. The documentary and discussion afterward will be streamed on Zoom. Registration is required.  A Thousand Cuts goes inside the escalating war between the government and the press in the Philippines, and follows Maria Ressa, a renowned journalist who has become a top target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on the news media. 

The Crisis in Afghanistan:  MoveOn’s petition to Support Refugees

Progressive Maryland BlogSpace:

We value creating space for our members to express their thoughts on any issues related to our campaigns. Have an idea for a blog post? You can submit writing, film, graphic design etc. to be published on our website to the blog moderator, Woody, at [email protected].  

 August 10, 2021 The political "duopoly" keeps Maryland divided, conquered by mediocrity

“ 'Bipartisan' sounds like it includes all viewpoints, but it’s just another word for control by the duopoly," concludes veteran journalist and observer of folly Len Lazarick in this column on how Maryland's state politics stay in the grip of centrism. The parties pick their voters, not the other way round.

Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, August 9, 2021

Progressive Maryland joins our friends in the labor, civil rights, and social justice movements to memorialize Richard Trumka, the President of the AFL-CIO, who died last Thursday. He was a fierce fighter for working people and a powerful movement leader. Let’s honor his legacy by staying committed to the struggle for racial and economic justice.

-Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, August 2, 2021

July 21, 2021 MoCo Council adds biggest county to those backing Medicare for All

Montgomery County Council passes a resolution calling on Congress to enact Medicare For All. 

July 16, 2021 The War on Drugs is a war on people like me

"The War on Drugs has been with us for more than fifty years, and hasn’t been a war on drugs at all. It’s been a war on people: people like me, and my family. Black people.” 

July 13, 2021  Hogan admin stymied in attempt at early Unemployment Insurance cutoff

Enhanced unemployment benefits provided by the Biden administration will last at least well into August despite attempts by Larry Hogan to burnish his credentials as a standard GOP scourge of working families by unilaterally discontinuing their payment. Justice (and judges) prevail.

-Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, July 12, 2021